Rent The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

"The World Is More Interesting With You In It" - The Silence of the Lambs review by ML

I haven't seen this on any format other than video, so to see it on DVD was a real treat. I had never before heard Clarice mutter "Bill..." under her breath when she first views his handiwork - every bit as iconic as Will Graham's realisation that "it's just you and I now, sport" in prequel Manhunter.

Another enhancement was the distant wind blowing through the obscene ballroom where she tells Hannibal, played by a near-best Anthony Hopkins hamming i up as "pure psychopath" and confident Lecter. Basically, it was nice to see it again.

Because it's genius, or near genius. It's gripping, runs a taught detective thriller alongside the most stirring of psychological interaction between two of the three leads, horrific - the fact that the mess of gore in Buffalo Bill's basement viewed just before the lights go out doesn't even make the top five most memorable moments from this dyed-in-the-wool horror story tells its own story - and it doesn't patronise. Must see cinema. Violent, stirring, clever, even when it tips over into melodrama.

Spoilers follow ... - The Silence of the Lambs review by NP

It is difficult to convey what a massive film this was on its release. It transformed second-billed Anthony Hopkins from a highly respected and well-known actor into an international superstar, caused a degree of controversy and cemented Jodie Foster’s reputation as a major talent. Both won awards for this, and the film won several others.

It isn’t difficult to see why. Starling’s (Foster) initial meeting with Lector (Hopkins) has a tremendous build up – tales of Lector’s legendary brutality, warnings and a corridor full of inmates leering (and worse) at Starling as she makes her way to his cell. The following scene alternately fills the screen with first Hopkins’ face and then Foster’, and – considering they are really explaining the plot to the audience - is electrifying.

Starling’s isolation in her male-dominated job is nicely conveyed visually (without over-labouring the point) often simply by featuring her in scenes with men a lot taller than her. Her wilful lack of vulnerability ensures we are instantly on her side. When we meet Lector, such is his beguiling magnificence, we find ourselves on his side too. A dilemma for the audience, but a fascinating one.

Among this terrific cast, it would be an error to overlook the contribution of Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill. His perversion is told to us at first, and revealed slowly thereafter, culminating in a scene in which he hides his penis between his legs and displays himself as a vision of what he believes to be divine beauty. Much of the original novel’s detail regarding Bill has not been included in the film (how much more shocking – perhaps too shocking – it would have been to see him wearing one of his skinned female victim’s breasts, as in Thomas Harris’s story). And yet he still emerges as a deranged and frightening figure.

The double twist towards the end of SPOILER (a) Lector’s ingenious escape, and (b) the realisation that Starling’s back-up team have gone to the wrong house leaving her to face Bill alone, are perfectly handled. And yet for such a controversial film, there is little gore actually in it – it is the implied violence and Lector’s relish in it that shreds the nerves. ‘Silence of the Lambs’ is thoroughly deserving of its acclaim.

Chianti, With Reservations - The Silence of the Lambs review by griggs

Second time around, this one really opened up. On first watch I was just along for the ride, gripped by the cat-and-mouse and Hopkins chewing through the scenery (and, well, other things). Revisiting it, I could actually sit with the craft — the way Demme lets Clarice’s unease seep into every frame, those unnerving direct-to-camera stares, the slow unspooling of Lecter’s games rather than the shock of them. It’s a richer, stranger film when you’re not just waiting for the next jolt.

Hopkins famously bagged the Best Actor Oscar for a grand total of sixteen minutes of screen time, which is either a masterclass in economy or one of the greatest heists in Academy history — possibly both. And yet, Brian Cox in Manhunter is still the definitive Lecktor. Colder, quieter, less theatrical, more genuinely unsettling. Hopkins gives you a pantomime villain you half want to root for; Cox gives you something you’d cross the street to avoid.

What hasn’t aged nearly as well is the Buffalo Bill material. The film insists he is “not really transsexual”, but then dresses him in every visual cue needed to connect gender nonconformity with madness, predation and disgust. That contradiction is the problem. However careful it may have thought it was being, it still turns gender variance into part of the horror, and in 2026 that lands as clumsy at best, harmful at worst.

Still, Foster remains extraordinary and Demme’s direction quietly masterful. A flawed classic, but a classic all the same.